Sleigh-knee



mmel) A. OLSON.

` SLBIGH KNEE.

N. 535,851. Patented Mar; 19, 1895. y

NTTnD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AMOND OLSON, OF ST. CHARLES, MINNESOTA.

sLEleH-KNEE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 535,851, dated March 19, 1895. Application iled March 27,1894.` Serial No. 505,360. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, AMOND OLSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Charles, in the county of Winona and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Sleigh- Knee, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to sleigh knees of that class in which the parts are constructed and connected to allow oscillation of the lower member which is secured to the runner of the sleigh, and the object in view is to construct the parts witha plurality of bearing surfaces arranged in such relative positions as to resist downward pressure and upward strain without depending upon the bolt which is arranged at the axis of movement and by which the members ofthe knee are connected, whereby said bolt is relieved of transverse strain andis subjected only to tensile strain in maintaining the parts in their proper relative positions.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear in thefollowing description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawingsFigure lis a side view of a sleigh knee constructed in accordance with my invention, showing the contiguous parts of a sleigh frame and a runner to illustrate the manner of connecting said parts tothe knee. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same in a plane indicated by the line -a; of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line g/-y of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail view in perspective of one of the sections of the upper member of the knee.` Fig. is a detail view in perspective of the lower member of the knee.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the draw- 1n gs.

The sleigh knee embodying my invention comprises an upper member which is secured rigidly to the frame of a sleigh and a lower member connected with the upper member and secured to the runner, the connection between said members being such as to allow independent oscillatory movement of the lower member with the runner to enable the latter` to adapt itself to inequalities in the surface traversed; and referring to the drawings, a represents a portion ot' a sleigh frame having a transverse beam f2 to which is secured the upper member of the knee, and ct represents a portion of a runner to which is secured the lower member of the knee. The lower member b consists of a casting provided at its lower side with longitudinal extensions b to rest upon the upper side of the runner, said extensions and the lower side ot' the body portion of the member being flanged to embrace the runner and thereby relieve the securing bolts e of lateral strain. The body portion of the lower member is provided with a flat upper end upon which bear nuts which are threaded upon the extremities of additional securing bolts, also numbered e', and extending through the. runner. Bearings ol are formed in the sides of the body portion of the casting by means of cavities or recesses which are formed therein, said bearings d being arcshaped and being of greater extent than a semi-circle, whereby the upper portions thereot' extend above the plane of the center from which the bearings are struck. Said cavities are open at their upper sides and are separated throughout by an interposed web d' which is integral with the body portion of the member and is provided with a central open` ing e concentric with the bearings d. This web is extended above the upper end of the body portion of the casting to form a complete circle struck from the same center as the bearings d, whereby the upper edge thereof forms `a bearing which is equal in extent to the difference between the bearings d and a complete circle. In other words, the upper edge of the web d forms a bearing which is the complement of the bearings d, the difference being that the former is an exterior, while the latter are interior bearings.

The upper member of the knee comprises twin sections c, c', each of which is provided with a horizontal lateral ear f, having front and rear upstanding Hanges f which engage the front and rear surfaces of the beam f2, forming a part ot' the sleigh frame. The body portions g of the sections are integral, respectn ively, with the earsf, and terminate at their lower ends in exteriorly rounded heads g', struck ou the same diameter as the interior bearings d of the lower member, and consisting of a portion of a circle greater than a semicircle and of greater extent than said interior IOO bearings d, whereby when the heads g are mounted in the interior bearings d the beveled or downardly convergent front and rear sides of the body portions of the sections c, c

, are spaced from the upper end of the body portion of the lower member, said beveled or downardly convergent front and rear sides of the body portions g being adapted to serve as stops to limit the independent oscillatory or rocking movement of the lower member by the contact of the upper end of the body portion of said lower member with these beveled or downwardly convergent sides. The peripheries of the heads g form exterior or convex surfaces t-o (it in the concave bearing surfaces d of the lower member, but in addition thereto are provided with concave bearing surfaces g2, the extent of said concave bearing surfaces q2 being the difference between the convex bearing surfaces of the heads and complete circles. The width or lateral measurement of each of these concave bearing surfaces g2 is on e-half the thickness of the web d', whereby when the heads g are seated, respectively, in the concave bearings d the concave bearings g2 bear upon the convex bearing surface d2 formed by the projecting upper edge of the web d and come in contact at their adjacent edges, to prevent the tightening of a connecting bolt 7c to such an extent as to cause the facing surfaces of the heads g' to have such frictional contact with the side surfaces of the web d as to prevent the proper independent oscillation of the lower member of the knee. Said bolt 7c extends through registering perforations h in the centers of the heads g', said perforations being concentric with the bearings d, d2, g', g2, and therefore concentric with the complete circular concave bearing formed by the opening e. Projecting from the facing surfaces of the heads g', 'and extending from the planes thereof a distance equal to onehalf the thickness of the web d', are the circular bosses h', the peripheries of which are concentric With the perforations h and which are struck on diameters which are equal to the diametcr of the opening e. Thus, the exterior bearing formed by the projection 72, on each head g is equal in diameter with the concaved bearing formed by the opening e, and is equal in Width and concentric with the concave bearing g2, whereby when the heads g are mounted in the bearings cl the convex bearing surfaces formed by the projections h come in contact with the concave bearing formed by the opening e,and the adjacent ends of said projections are arranged in contact, and thereby assist in preventing the tightening of the bolt 7c from affecting the operating of the lower or oscillatory member of the knee.

From the above description it will be seen that I have provided two complete sets of circular bearings, one of which comprises the concave bearings surfaces e, the convex bearings surface dz, the covex bearing surface g',

and the concave bearing surface g2, the first two of which combine to form a complete circle, as do the latter two; and the other of which comprises the concave bearing formed by the opening e and the convex bearing formed by the projections h', all of which are concentric with the bolt 7i; by which the parts are held from lateral displacement by tensile strength;v and, furthermore, in order to prevent transverse strain upon the connecting bolt 7c when there is an upward movement imparted to the upper member of the knee,.l employ the concave bearings CZ which are of greater extent than semi-circles, and the corresponding convex bearings g which are em-y braced by said 'concave bearings to a plane above the center or axis of said bearings. This necessitates the assembling of the parts of the knee by inserting the heads g from the sides ot' the member b, and prevents the separation of the members until one of the sections of the upper member has been detached from the sleigh frame. Thus, in case of injury to the connecting bolt 7i; the parts of the sleigh knee will continue to perform their functions as long as the sections of the upper member are secured firmly to the sleigh frame.

The body portions of the sections c, c are hollowed or recessed, as shown at Z, in order to reduce the weight of the castings without materially affecting the strength thereof, and the front and rear sides 'L' of the recesses or cavities thus formed are extended to lie at their edges flush with the adjacent edges of the bearings g2, whereby the body portions of the sections are in contact throughout their contiguous edges. The crescent-shaped strengthening ribs Z are formed on the exterior surfaces of the body portions of the sections c, c', and recesses are formed in the outer surfaces of the heads g in which are countersunk the head and securing nut of the bolt 7o, whereby the extremities of said bolt are protected, from contact with obstructions.

From the above description, it will be seen that I have constructed a sleigh knee comprising a minimum number of parts and a plurality of complete circular bearings so combined as to prevent separation of the members in the direction of strain, without depending upon a pivot bolt, and that the parts or members may be readily disconnected by the disengagement or removal of certain fastening bolts which are not subjected to strain when the device is in use.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A sleigh-knee comprising upper and lower members each provided witha plurality of complete circular bearing surfaces, the lower member having side concave surfaces and an intermediate complementary convex surface, and a complete concentric concave 'Vbearing, and the other member having side convex surfaces and an intermediate comple IIO ranged in the plane of said convex bearing surface, an upper member consisting of separable duplicate sections each having a conveX bearing surface g', of an arc greater than the bearing surfaces el, and a complementary concave bearing surface g2, and each provided 15 with a concentric convex bearing surface h in the plane of the concave surface g2, and means for holding said sections in operative `position with relation to the lower member.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as 2o my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of Witnesses.

AMON D OLSON.

vVitnessesz GEORGE PFEFFERKORN, OTTO PFEFFERKORN. 

